Albums belatedly give voice to Manfred Mann's Paul Jones

Blues harmonica player, singer, songwriter and radio presenter Paul Jones has recorded prolifically in a musical career that has spanned more than half a century. However, it is only in the past six years that he has been able to record the music he wants to as a solo artist.

Jones' career as a performing blues musician began with a student band he formed in the early 1960s at Oxford University. A little later, he formed a duo with future Rolling Stones founder Brian Jones, and guested with Alexis Korner's Blues Incorporated. He claims he doesn't regret turning down Brian Jones' offer for the job that ultimately went to Mick Jagger, but did want a taste of that success - and so he said yes when offered a gig with a group called the Mann-Hugg Blues Brothers, who then became Manfred Mann.

As the original name suggests, the band started out playing blues but, once signed to a recording contract, shifted their focus first towards American pop songs, and then on to Bob Dylan covers. But Jones wanted to perform blues and soul music, so he left the group, embarking on a solo career - only to discover that his management and record company were no more keen on following his musical instincts than his former bandmates had been.

Frustrated with the songs he was asked to record, he moved into an acting career - with some success in the West End and on Broadway although less in cinema - but still heard the call of the blues. In 1979, he suggested to ex-Manfred Mann bandmate Tom McGuinness that they look at forming a group with the intention of playing casually, just one or two nights a week.

The Blues Band swiftly became a full-time job and as a performer Jones has not looked back since. In 1991, he and McGuinness also joined a group of Manfred Mann alumni calling themselves The Manfreds to recreate the group's 1960s hits. When not appearing with either of those units, he also performs regularly in a duo with Blues Band slide guitarist Dave Kelly.